The Firestorm
by pretense
Summary: In the beginning of Time, the Lord of the Skies brought forth an uncontrollable power. It was known as the Firestorm, the Untamed hence Forbidden. It was the story of their creation. Leo-centric AU. Oneshot


**A/N:** I have not read the Heroes of Olympus series so please take my characterization with a grain of salt. I also intend to keep this a oneshot because I just _had_ to get it out of my system before it kills me. Enjoy~

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><p>There was an old tale among his people; a story passed down from generation to generation. For the people borne of the flame, they trace their roots to the First Spark - when the Lord of the Skies struck the Land during one of many Great Wars in the beginning of Time, he had brought forth an uncontrollable power. It was known as the Firestorm, the Untamed hence Forbidden. It was the story of their creation.<p>

They work the forges inside a great hollowed mass of land called a Volcano but sometimes, when there's not much smoke coming from their endless welding, they are granted a clear view of the Sky. Untouchable. Leo has never ceased to be amazed at the roulette of colors that the Sky is painted in. Sometimes it's in bright, happy tones and sometimes it's in deep hues that remind Leo of fire itself but the Sky cannot be on fire.

Another tale he's been told too many times was that the Sky detested fire. The Firestorm had done more bad than good, the elders would always stress, and Leo wanted answers to that, but back to the colors of the sky for now. Leo's favorite was when the Sky was in deep dark hues and all of a sudden a bright Spark would cross it. Spreading veins of light through the murky darkness. A crackling sound often preceded that white flash of light so Leo could usually catch it when it appears; for the Spark never stays for long, disappearing in almost the same instant that it shows itself. Leo was very captivated by that teasing little Spark.

How did one brisk Spark like that spawn their entire population?

Leo had nothing but respect for his ancestors and for their tradition but he was a young spirit and justifiably curious. Another reason for why he was most distinguishable from the rest of his kin - while most of his people settle into their human forms leaving just their hair or hands burning, Leo's fire consumes him entirely. It doesn't flicker in the least, even when he was merely going through the mundane tasks set to him.

Why were they not allowed to go outside of Lord Hephaestus' Forges? What was this thing called the Sea? Were there others like them out there? What did an actual human look like? Could they burst into flames like his people? (His mother already answered the last one with a kind 'No, dear' and a pat on his head but Leo was allowed to doubt that since he knew for a fact that she had never seen the outside world, therefore her info was unreliable.) But most importantly, Leo needed to know more of the Sky and the Spark.

And because he'd been watching out for it, Leo noticed that lately the Spark has been appearing more and more frequently. In fact, the sky seemed to have stopped its color roulette at inky dark blue. Then there was the sudden demand for more and more weapons. Leo found himself working on wicked blades and hulking shields, polishing everything to perfection, without stop. Lord Hephaestus' absence extended for longer and longer periods until his orders had to be delivered by Beckendorf, a legend amongst the Fire people having achieved the status of their Lord's right-hand man.

Everything was suddenly work, work, work. His friends, the few who have a saint's patience to deal with his repeated ramblings and idiosyncrasies, had resorted to telling Leo to shut up and keep working whenever went into his frenzied rants and speculations of what exactly could be happening out there. They didn't have time to dawdle when a mass order for sleek bows and arrows had just come in.

And then one day it happened. While they were welding and tinkering and hammering a seemingly endless train of armaments, a deafening, hair-raising roar shook the very ground they stood on. That was practically the only warning they got.

When Leo came to consciousness, he was in the middle of a forest with a great burnt circle surrounding him. He was outside and he was lost and his first instinct was to look up at the Sky. The whole stretch was an ominous shade of red with voluminous clouds the color of tar. A shiver ran down his body and only then did he notice that he was, for the first time, not aflame. Not a lick of fire was on his body and he realized how small he was in contrast to the massive trees and rocks that were all around him. He searched the immediate area for a sign of their forge but the closest thing he found was a high mound of earth that had burst open, emitting thick black smoke, utterly destroyed. There was no doubt in his mind that it was his home.

It wasn't very far and Leo made a run for it. Unmoving bodies with familiar faces greeted him and he felt a frightening coldness grow inside of him – he was a Child of Fire, he was _never_ cold. He tried to burst into flame but found it impossible as the body count only grew as he neared what was left of Lord Hephaestus' Forge.

A crackling noise suddenly came overhead and Leo froze in his tracks, heartbeats turning erratic.

Cutting through the horrible mash of red and black in the sky, a swift line of white appeared and a rumbling boom following in its wake.

Leo couldn't bring himself to look away even when it became obvious that the Spark was about to land. A thundering crash resounded, a rush of power came from where the Spark hit the center of the volcano, the burst of raw energy reached Leo, drying up the very air that he breathed.

Something like static hung in the atmosphere and it took a few seconds for Leo to be aware of his own limbs again. Then he ran like mad up the slope, unseeing of the scattered bodies of his kinsmen, a single mantra rang clear in his head. He found a fissure that went through to the inside and slipped right in, he almost didn't recognize his home. Ash and wreckage were strewn about the place. A loud crash called for Leo's attention and he quickly rushed over to the central forge, jumping over fallen debris and half-finished weaponry until he's at the platform where celestial bronze shields lay scattered. At the center was a man.

His armor was of polished bronze and the longer Leo stared, it appeared as though there were flashes of the Spark passing through. The guy had short-cropped hair the color of the sun, tanned skin spanned over muscular arms, and in one hand he held a golden coin with the etching of a sword and some lines and angles.

Leo fell to his knees, staring wide-eyed at the man who was at the very least breathing. He was certain that this man came from the Spark, the air around him felt similar to the static energy he'd felt just moments before. Tentatively, Leo poked the man's arm.

A prickling sensation met the tip of his finger and Leo drew back his whole hand in alarm but what happened next had him speechless in awe. A small flame erupted on his fingertip.

"Ugh." Groaning, the blond man came to consciousness and his eyes revealed themselves to be a bright electric blue as they settled on Leo who had a look of complete wonder on his person.

"Hi."

Sitting up, the man scrunched up his sun-kissed face, looking at the wreck that surrounded him for a brief moment. "What happened here?" His voice was young yet very mature in the tone it held.

Leo shrugged, the tongue of fire on his finger lighting his face with an orange glow.

Blue eyes found the lit fingertip and he stared. "Who are you?"

Thin lips extended into a wide grin, Leo couldn't explain why he was suddenly feeling very warm in the chest but he answered in a chirpy voice that wasn't fitting for someone who just lost his entire tribe. "I'm Leo!"

"Whoa!" the blue-eyed blond jerked back, his whole face showed immense shock at being bathed in a bright light. "Your hair's on fire!"

"Really?" Leo raised his dark eyes and they positively gleamed as he recognized his curly locks now alight with crackling fire. "Yes!" He fist-pumped, extinguishing the flame on his finger without scorching his palm in the least.

"Dude, you're naked!" Came a follow-up shout from the armor-clad man.

Confusion was the best Leo could come up with. He could not comprehend well why the blond was suddenly looking at anything else but him. After ten seconds the man looked back at him and then quickly looked away again, mumbling something incoherent as he did something with his shoulder and not a second later he was holding up his cape towards Leo.

"Put this on." The man ordered and Leo took the long purple cloak.

It was decorated with gold geometric patterns on the hem and Leo remembered a couple of shields he'd made before depicting people wearing something like it. He tied the ends of the cloth over one shoulder and found the blue-eyed gaze back on him.

"What are you?" The question came mostly with a tone of awe and Leo felt that tingling warmth in his chest spread through the rest of him.

"I'm a Child of Fire." Only when the words left him did the reality of what had actually happened crash down onto Leo. The bright expression fell from his face. His flaming hair was extinguished in one heavy heartbeat and his eyes darted around, suddenly searching for something he couldn't quite understand. "I... I lost everyone."

"But you survived," a solemn look came over the blond as he reclaimed his position beside Leo, his bright blue eyes examining the younger man, judging his age to be around late teens. "I should've been here to defend the place but I got held up by a damn gang of Venti. I'm sorry, Leo."

"What's happening?" Leo met the man's apologetic gaze, he thought he saw the Spark in those blue eyes. "And who are you? You came from the Spark in the Sky, didn't you?"

The man's mouth quirked in a small grin and Leo noticed something like a scar on his bottom lip. "The Spark in the Sky?"

Leo nodded. "The Spark that breaks the darkness, the First Spark that brought my people to life."

"The correct word is lightning," the armored man said, sitting up straighter and extending his right hand covered in a bronze gauntlet towards the other. "I'm Jason Grace. Prince of the Skies, a Child of Lightning."

An expression of total amazement lit up Leo's face as they shook hands. Right in front of him was the Spark – well, Lightning, apparently but - a Child of Lightning! Here! Shaking his hand!

"And you, Leo, are coming with me. I have a feeling I'll need you." Jason stood up pulling the teen with him and Leo was now 100% sure that it was pure lightning in those bright blue eyes.

There was quick whoosh of air and Leo's whole body ignited, destroying the thick cloth that covered him in the time that it took for him to blink his white-hot eyes. What should've been skin and muscle and bones were replaced with flame, something imitating molten lava running through the lean and nearly translucent body. The Spark _needed_ him, needed _him_...

Jason jumped a little when the teenager flamed up, finding himself a bit more confused when the burn he expected (considering their clasped hands) didn't come. Instead, short lines of electricity travelled up around his forearm. He expected Leo to start convulsing which was the usual reaction when he accidentally touched people with his lightning but the Child of Fire only seemed to glow brighter, lighting up the whole place with a friendly smile. He'd been face to face with creatures that'd been impossible to conjure with mere imagination but this one, Leo... Leo was a whole different entity.

And the war was just starting.


End file.
